A happy and content Eli Tomac left San Diego with his best result of the year, first visit to the podium this season with a second place – and he took the championship lead!
Tomac has been steady if unspectacular this season but at San Diego he got his first good start of the year and, while not being as fast as Chase Sexton, Jason Anderson and maybe even Ken Roczen early in the main event, Tomac rode well, taking no risks to take second.
In a season of on consistency, Tomac’s relatively consistent 6,4,2 scores put him on top right now, and you feel there is more to come from the blue number three as he adjusts further to the Yamaha and the Star Racing team.
“I rate the night as just improvement,” assessed Eli in the press conference. “That’s what we’ve been doing each weekend. Started pretty slow at Anaheim 1. Got a little bit better at Oakland, and better here. It wasn’t on top, but it was just better. I’ve been working like crazy on those starts. I really watched that 250 main how it swept. So I was like, all right, I’m going to go take a little bit of a gamble here and go outside and try to sweep, and it worked. Then I’ve just been improving some riding too. I wasn’t the fastest guy tonight, but just solid. Happy with where we’re going.
“We were kind of chuckling when we saw that (on top of the points standings) up on the board after we were down there at the podium. That’s the way the season is. That’s how much talent there is in the 450 class right now. You see different podiums every weekend. It’s just what it shows you – it’s crazy.”
Tomac also discussed bike changes he has made in the opening three rounds: “Haven’t done anything major. It’s been little things, nothing drastic and mostly starts, like everyone is talking about. That’s where most of my work has been. Little stuff just to fix a little bit of balance and stuff that you never know until you go racing on the bike. Nothing too out of this world where we’re like ripping off the clamps or changing linkages or something. None of that during the week.”
Article: Jonathan McCready
Images: Yamaha
Podcast! Jonathan McCready and Andy McKinstry talk about the craziness of the 450 class in supercross, Sexton’s first win and Tomac taking the red plate. Get it on iTunes here or Spotify or YouTube below: